Salvation Army in need of donations to fix mobile kitchen

Medford, Ore. — An organization committed to helping those in need, is looking for a little help of its own. The Salvation Army in Jackson County is home to the only emergency mobile kitchen in southern Oregon, but it’s out of commission. Now it’s asking the community for help to get it repaired, and back out on the road where it’s needed.

“We can usually be called at a moments notice, be able to hook up an EDS trailer to a truck, go out to a site to be able to help those affected by a disaster,” Major Jason Koenig says,

But this summer, the Salvation Army’s mobile kitchen remained parked, and unusable. It’s now been that way for years.

“It’s been at least 3 years since it’s been able to be functional,” Major Koenig says.

Koenig says it became apparent the issues needed to be addressed, when they couldn’t respond to nearby wildfires this summer.

“In lieu of that we would cook some meals, go in a little mini van but that still is limiting,” he explains.

The needed repairs are estimated at $6,000. They’re hoping that figure will be enough to fix current damage, replace tires, buy a generator, and give the outside a little TLC. Now they just need your help, so they can get back to doing the most good whenever, and wherever its needed.

“The community helping us serve the community and that’s really what were asking for,” Koenig says.

If you’d like to donate call the Medford Salvation Army office at 541-773-6965 or come by their Beatty Street office. Once the repairs are the made, the trailer will be moved to a more secure location.

Executive Producer Kristin Hosfelt anchors NBC5 News weeknights at 5 and 6. Originally from the Bay Area, Kristin earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Broadcast Journalism from San Jose State University.

She came to KOBI-TV/NBC5 from Bangor, Maine where she was the evening news anchor. Kristin has won multiple journalism awards including Best Feature Reporting in the State of Maine. In 2017, her investigation on lead pipes in Medford’s water system was named Best News Series by the Oregon Association of Broadcasters.

When Kristin is not sharing the news, she’s traveling, hunting down the best burrito, or buried in a Jodi Picoult novel. She’s also a Green Bay Packers shareholder; if you see her out and about she’d be happy to tell you the story of how a California girl became a cheesehead.